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Strong sales of storage systems and laptops carried Dell to a solid first quarter.

The hardware maker posted revenue of $13.4bn - a 16 per cent year-over-year rise - in the period. Dell also reported a 28 percent rise in net income to $934m up from the $731m reported one year earlier.

"We are pleased with our performance this quarter and the disciplined execution of the team," Dell's CFO Jim Schneider, during a conference call.

Dell saw robust growth from its storage unit, which increased sales by 49 per cent. The company's much larger server business only increased revenue 12 per cent year-over-year.

Mobile product sales driven by laptops also jumped 22 per cent from last year's first quarter.

"Customers worldwide are increasingly relying on us for their diversified information-technology requirements," said Dell CEO Kevin Rollins.

Dell has been on a mission to prove that it's much more than just a PC company that happens to sell other hardware. Improving sales of servers, storage systems, printers and consumer goods is key to Dell's goal of being an $80bn firm by 2008 or 2009.

Dell's bold aspirations and consistent performance must prove frustrating to competitors such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems that have had far from stellar performances in recent times.

And Dell still sees openings in its cherished PC business, especially since IBM sold off its PC operations to Lenovo.

"We are seeing significant opportunities in the large accounts space in western Europe and in the Americas," said Chairman Michael Dell. "We think (IBM/Lenovo) is a significant opportunity for us."

Dell expects to post close to 17 per cent revenue growth in its second quarter on revenue between $13.6bn and $13.8bn. ®